HUD Awards $10 Million in Funding for Family Unification Program Vouchers

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On December 19, in a press release sent via email, HUD announced that it was awarding approximately $10 million in funding for new family unification program (FUP) vouchers. These vouchers serve families whose lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent placement of the family’s child in out-of-home care or youth exiting the foster care system who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

To administer these vouchers, housing agencies work collaboratively with public child welfare agencies (PCWAs). These PCWAs refer potentially eligible households to the housing agency, which provides the voucher and any other services.

The awards were made to the housing agencies listed below.

 PHA NameVouchers AwardFunding
1.Santa Clara County Housing Authority42$1,175,590
2.Sonoma County Housing Authority53$1,182,229
3.Housing Authority of the County of San Diego49$1,131,976
4.Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver52$862,761
5.Hialeah Housing Authority44$566,650
6.Chicago Housing Authority55$778,477
7.Jefferson Parish Housing Services and Development District46$417,064
8.Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VIII52$376,940
9.Home Forward (Portland, OR)56  $788,081
10.Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation28$354,369
11.Housing Authority of the City of Austin50$772,020
12.Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake dba Housing Connect50$628,548
13.King County Housing Authority (WA)48$934,197  
 Total Award625  $9,968,902

NAHRO congratulates these agencies on receiving these vouchers.

New Report on the Benefits of Increasing Housing Supply

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

A new report titled “Supply Skepticism Revisited” by Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Katherine O’Regan has been highlighted by the Furman Center in a recent email. The report is structured into four parts. The first part shows evidence that housing is unaffordable and that supply is not meeting demand in many parts of the country; the second part reviews arguments made by skeptics at the efficacy of increasing housing supply to increase affordability; the third part identifies new research that shows the benefits of increasing the housing supply; and the fourth part identifies areas where additional research is needed.

The report presents evidence for the following (see page 44 of the report):

  • Additional housing slows the growth in or decreases rents in an area;
  • In some instances, additional housing may also reduce rents or the rate of growth of rents in surrounding areas;
  • New construction causes “chains of moves” where higher-income households move to new housing freeing up older units for use by other households in different income brackets;
  • While increasing housing supply may increase gentrification, it does not necessarily displace lower income households; and
  • Reducing restrictions in land use usually leads to an increase in the supply of housing, but increases may happen over a longer time horizon and those increases may not be equivalent to the theoretical capacity created as other constraints may hinder development.

The full report can be read here.

HOTMA Sections 102 and 104 Compliance Date Extended for CPD Programs

~ Steven Molinari ~ Leave a comment

On December 8, HUD published a notice that extends the compliance date to January 1, 2025 for Community Planning and Development (CPD) grantees implementing Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) requirements.

HUD extends the compliance date for grantees of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), Emergency Solution Grants (ESG), Continuum of Care (CoC) programs, and CPD programs funded through competitive process.

According to HUD, the compliance date extension is meant to allow grantees additional time to incorporate HUD’s income and asset requirements into their own programs. Additionally, it is meant to provide grantees flexibility in transitioning to the implementation of HOTMA requirements.

The extension deadline is in alignment with Notice PIH 2023–27. The original compliance date was set for January 1, 2024.

The full notice can be found here.

HUD Publishes New HOTMA Resources

~ Andrew Van Horn ~ Leave a comment

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has released several new Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) resources on HUDExchange. First is the “Sample Admin and ACOP HOTMA Policies.” This document provides brief descriptions of the discretionary policies agencies will need to create to implement sections 102 and 104 of HOTMA as well as sample language PHAs could adopt in their plans. Second, HUD has released four resources intended to be resident-facing, including:

For more information, see the December 15 edition of The NAHRO Monitor.

Small Area FMR Resources

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Dec. 6, HUD sent an email with an attached letter that contains links to several resources to implement small area fair market rents (FMRs) to PHA executive directors. The resources mentioned in that letter are the following:

The letter also includes a link to a previously recorded webinar on small area FMR implementation. A link to the above recording on small area FMR implementation and presentation slides can be found here.

The communication also reminds executive directors that PHAs in metro areas that must mandatorily implement small area FMRs will receive $10,000 in supplemental administrative fees.

The HUD small area FMR letter can be found here.

HUD Publishes 2024 OCAFs

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Nov. 30, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register titled “Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment Factors for 2024.” Operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) are annual factors used to adjust certain Section 8 rents. These OCAFs are calculated as “the sum of weighted component cost changes” for certain publicly available cost indices.

Some indices reflect data collected at the state level, while some indices reflect data collected at the national level. The nine cost indicators used in calculating OCAFs are the following:

  • State-level data;
    • Electricity;
    • Fuel Oil;
    • Natural Gas;
  • National-level data;
    • Employee Benefits;
    • Employee Wages;
    • Goods, Supplies, and Equipment;
    • Insurance;
    • Property Taxes; and
    • Water, Sewer, and Trash.

The notice lists the specific data sources for each category of data and alternative sources where a region may not have specific data available.

The full notice with the 2024 OCAFs listed as an appendix can be found here.

HUD Releases 30-Day Notification Requirement Proposed Rule for Public Housing and PBRA Properties

~ Steven Molinari ~ Leave a comment

On November 30, HUD released a proposed rule for public inspection that would require PHAs/owners that administer public housing and or project-based rental assistance (PBRA) to provide tenants with 30-day notice prior to the commencement of a formal judicial eviction
procedure for lease termination.

According to HUD, “…the proposed rule would curtail preventable and unnecessary evictions by providing tenants with time and information to help cure nonpayment violations.” In their reasoning for proposing the rule, HUD uses the interim final rule titled “Extension of Time and
Required Disclosures for Notification of Nonpayment of Rent,” published October 2021 as part of the basis. The interim rule allowed for HUD to extend the time period before lease termination for nonpayment of rent to a minimum of 30 days.

The proposed rule provides the 30-day notice period without the contingency of a national emergency and the availability of emergency rental assistance funds as seen in the interim final rule. It also allows owners and PHAs to provide a longer notice period if they wish to.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after the notice is published. Those interested in submitting comments can do so by going to Regulations.gov.

A more detailed analysis of the proposed rule will be featured in the next edition of the NAHRO Monitor on December 15.

HUD Announces $25 million in Mobility-Related Service Awards

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

HUD has announced that it will distribute nearly $25 million in Housing Mobility-Related Service awards to 7 PHAs. According to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, these awards will “boost access to housing vouchers for families who need them most.” With these funds, more PHA’s will be able to administer housing mobility programs – increasing access to opportunity neighborhoods for families with children in the HCV program.

The HCV Mobility Services Program provides mobility-related services and implements administrative policies to help PHAs address common barriers HCV families face obtaining housing in neighborhoods with access to amenities like high-performing schools, access to jobs, low crime rates, parks, and other amenities. Research has demonstrated that growing up in a lower poverty neighborhood is associated with higher academic achievement, better health outcomes, and higher long-term chances of success.

Congratulations to the Housing Authority of the City of Dallas, Texas, Boston Housing Authority, Houston Housing Authority, Connecticut Department of Housing, Housing Authority of the Birmingham District, Seattle Housing Authority, and Milwaukee County DHHS – Housing Division on receiving these awards!

FSS Achievement Metrics Score Notice Released

~ Steven Molinari ~ Leave a comment

On November 15, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register titled “Family Self-Sufficiency Achievement Metrics (“FAM”) Score.” The notice describes updates to the FAM Score that HUD has implemented to track the program performance of PHAs that receive FSS program coordinator grants.

The FAM Score is meant to provide HUD, Congress, PHAs, and other entities information on the performance of individual FSS programs. According to HUD, this is meant to help grantees determine how their programs compare to others across the country and their success in helping participants graduate from the FSS program.

This notice makes a number of adjustments meant to improve the FAM Score such as updating thresholds for computing scores; factoring in local economic conditions; using a three-year average for measuring earnings and graduation rates; modifying the number of comparison households used to determine the Earnings Performance Measure; and clarifying how joint FSS grantees are counted across years.

For PHAs that received MTW Demonstration designation prior to December 15, 2015, this notice does not apply.

A more detailed analysis of this notice will be featured in the next edition of the NAHRO Monitor on November 30.

For the full notice, please see here.

New Small Area FMR Guidance

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On November 15, HUD released a notice titled “Small Area Fair Market Rent Implementation Guidance for FY2024 Designated Metropolitan Areas” (Notice PIH 2023-32). The guidance provides certain implementation details for the recent expansion of the mandatory use of Small Area FMRs. The Department has designated 41 new metropolitan areas where PHAs will be required to use Small Area FMRs for the Housing Choice Voucher program. Small Area FMRs will be required in those areas on October 1, 2024, but payment standards based on those small area FMRs will not be required to be updated until January 1, 2025. Housing agencies in those areas may choose to use the small area FMRs for their project-based vouchers.

The notice also provides additional information on the implementation of small area FMRs. First, small area FMR designations are permanent. Second, those PHAs that must mandatorily implement small area FMRs in the new areas will receive $10,000 to cover the administrative costs of transitioning to small area FMRs. These funds will be disbursed automatically, and no PHA will have to apply for them. Third, those PHAs, in the mandatorily designated areas, that wish to begin using small area FMRs immediately may do so under the current “opt-in” procedures. Finally, moving to work (MTW) agencies, in mandatorily designated areas, are required to use small area FMRs, unless they have an alternative payment standards policy in their HUD-approved annual MTW plans.

The full notice can be read here.